A number of interactive toys exist. Many of these interactive toys are adapted to teach children skills such as reading, letter recognition, counting and math. Some conventional interactive toys use block-type items to facilitate learning.
One such toy is called Talking Phonics Blocks made by Child Guidance. In the Talking Phonics Blocks toy, a toy block is placed on a talking stage. The toy includes 7 blocks. Each block has six block faces, and a pattern of protrusions throughout one of the block faces. The four block faces that are directly adjacent to the coded face have words and images of objects (e.g., a picture of the sun and the word “sun”). When the coded face is placed on a “talking stage” one of the four adjacent faces is displayed to the child and the toy says something about the image on the face that is being displayed to the child. The talking stage has an array of pressure switches on it and the coded block face will press down on a certain number of the pressure switches depending on which of the adjacent block faces is facing the child.
Another such toy is called Music Blocks by Neurosmith. This toy has a number of blocks with different shapes on them. Children create music by placing the different blocks on a base. Each block has pairs of metal contacts on each face of the block. The pairs of metal contacts are connected through internal resistors. Resistors with different resistances are in the different blocks so that the electronics in the base can identify the particular blocks that are on the base. The base can play different music depending on the blocks that are on the base.
Yet another instructional apparatus is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,968,255. This patent describes an answer block that has display faces that have uneven distal edges. The edges are defined by notches and ridges, and the edges are discontinuous and interrupted edges.
Although such toys are useful, a number of improvements could be made. For example, a block in the Talking Phonics Blocks toy has only one face that is coded. When using this toy, the child must know beforehand that the coded face must be in contact with the talking stage before any output is produced. Small children may put a non-coded side of the block in contact with the talking stage and may consequently get no response from the toy. The inability of a child to use the block to interact with the talking stage can be frustrating. Second, since one face is structurally coded, that face does not have an image on it. The block is unlike a traditional block since it only has images on only five of six sides. Moreover, all faces of the blocks are not effectively utilized in the Talking Phonics Blocks toy so that the educational content provided by the blocks is limited.
Improvements could also be made to the Music Blocks toy. First, as noted above, the Music Blocks toy has blocks with metal contacts and resistors in them. While such blocks are useful, the use of metal and electronics such as resistors in the blocks adds to the cost of the blocks and the toy as a whole. The electronics that are used with the blocks are also complicated. Second, the Music Blocks toy only produces music and provides no other outputs. Accordingly, the usefulness of the Music Blocks toy is basically limited to teaching children about music.
Improvements could also be made to the blocks in the instructional apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,968,255. First, the interrupted and discontinuous edges of the answer blocks give the answer blocks an appearance and feeling that is unlike ordinary children's blocks. In this case, children are less likely to use the instructional apparatus if the blocks do not have the look and feel of ordinary blocks. Second, complicated molds and tooling are required to make the interrupted and discontinuous edges of the answer blocks. To the extent that the answer blocks can even be formed, it is difficult to form the answer blocks. Third, the interrupted and discontinuous edges of the answer block are unprotected and can easily be damaged by physical contact with another object. If the uninterrupted and discontinuous edges are damaged, the answer blocks will not work properly as the edge structures are what make the answer blocks work.
Some embodiments of the invention address the above noted problems, individually and collectively. Other embodiments of the invention are directed to new and inventive interactive toys, with or without blocks.